This tutorial shows you how to draw anime lips in various forms and from various perspectives in the anime and manga styles (front, three quarter and side). The emphasis is on drawing female lips, however some of the examples also work for drawing masculine lips.
In manga and draw anime lips, it is fairly typical for mouths to be depicted without lips, however some styles—usually the more realistic ones—do depict lips. Additionally, lips are frequently drawn in anime and manga close-up scenes, despite the fact that these media don’t typically reveal them.
Drawing Manga & Anime Lips Style
Manga and draw anime lips come in a variety of sizes and shapes, just like real lips do. In addition, there are different levels of complexity and realism based on the artist’s inclination and the chosen style.
The progression from more realistic to more stylised instances can be seen in the illustration up top. The more of the various portions of the lips that are barely hinted at or completely absent, generally speaking, the more basic the design.
As you can see, in certain cases the color rather than the outline determines how the lips are shaped. Additionally, you can see that the top lip’s “M” form is not at all depicted in the last three examples. When a figure is wearing lipstick in the simpler anime styles, this is especially typical.
Not having an outline can also make the lips look softer, which is an intriguing approach when applying color to define the lips.
Drawing Manga & Anime Lips Style in 3/4 View
Draw anime lips in a 3/4 view with the side closest to the viewer being longer than the side farthest away. You want to do this for two different reasons. One is that it appears “shorter” because the farthest side of the lips curls away from the viewer. Perspective is the second justification.
When draw anime lips in a 3/4 view, the inner section of the lips should be drawn further back than the outside part because it is inset.
It’s not that difficult to draw anime lips from the side. Imagine sketching only half of the front view, horizontally slightly constricted lips when drawing lips in the side view.
With a few adjustments, you can use the front view of the lips to obtain the side view, as demonstrated in the image up top.
Not every step in the example above needs to be drawn out. They are there to help you understand what has to be adjusted and how to get the side view of the lips based on the front view.
Final Verdict
Depending on what the character you’re creating is doing, lips can take on a variety of asymmetrical shapes. It’s difficult to cover a lot of examples in a single tutorial, but these ought to give you a fair understanding of how to draw anime lips from some typical angles.